A Review of All in One

It has been a busy year for All in One and if we take a look at its achievements, a considerable amount of efforts has been made in a diverse field of concerns. Overall, some of its achievements include invitation of influential speakers, improvement of student welfare, increase in the interaction with other universities, and organization of various events.

If we take a look at the more notable events, there was the school festival in the spring and the KAIST Art and Music Festival in the fall. Many famous music groups were invited to the events and overall, the festivals were successful in boosting the students’ morale and livening up the university’s quiet mood. Some of the other events include KAIST ONE and the Careers Exhibition. For KAIST ONE, students gathered together to improve their global networking by indulging themselves in exotic foreign cultures, artistic performances, and foods. In the case of the Careers Exhibition, the students were able to learn about the various career paths ahead of them. In addition to these large events, there were some smaller events as well. For example, during exam periods, special gifts were handed out, such as free bubble tea and snacks at the cafeterias.

In addition to the events enjoyed by the general student population, All in One organized many other programs pertaining to individual groups. The Buddy Program matched KAIST Korean students with foreigners to help them in a day-by-day basis. The Happy KAIST program collected ideas from the students on how to live a happy student life. The agriculture program during the summer helped the students experience and learn about working in the field of agriculture. KAIST Happy Campus allowed students to rediscover their self-worth by writing about what makes them happy, sending messages to thank people they know, and learning to decide the correct path before quickly striding ahead.

Seminars and talks by various individuals were organized as well. There was the KAIST-KOLON Fashion Styling Class, where the professor explained some of the modern fashion trends that students can follow. In the fall semester, there was a seminar by Je Dong Kim on the importance of the people around us, and a mentoring concert by the singer The One, who talked about his life experiences and sang some of his most popular songs. Furthermore, many KAIST graduates were invited to talk about their experiences and give advice to the inexperienced undergraduate students of KAIST.

The student council worked for the students not only by organizing special events, but also by providing necessary facilities and various opportunities. Due to the lack of printing facilities, printing booths were installed in many of the dormitories. As there were inconveniences in traveling from KAIST to Seoul, school buses were organized to do so every Friday starting from the fall semester. In addition, various discounts were available for the students, such as up to 14% discounts on all Apple products through the “Apple on Campus” program and at least 50% discount on tickets for the b-boy musical Marionette.

One of the more controversial topics All in One had to take care of this year was the issue concerning President Nam Pyo Suh. Overall, the general trend was to push for reform, but opinions are divided in the evaluation methods used. Some view the measures taken as sufficient, while others think of them as too light for any promising effects. If we assess the methods in terms of presidential reform, their effectiveness is questionable, but if we view it in the light of increasing the influence of the student body in the school’s decisions, they were a success.

It is inevitable that some of the decisions made by All in One were not the best choices for the students of KAIST. However, it is without a doubt that the 26th KAIST Student Council was successful in helping the students by providing support and by collecting and voicing the various student opinions.

Election Process

The election process started with the candidates submitting the required documents to the KAIST Undergraduate Student Council’s Central Election Committee. The regulations set by the Committee and the process were the following:

1. All documents are to be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on November 8.
2. The documents must fulfill the following requirements:
a) The name and pledges of the election headquarters,
b) Recommendations from 5 percent of the Electoral College (undergraduate students currently enrolled in KAIST). Students may recommend multiple candidates,
c) The names of the members in the election headquarter,
d) A copy of the pledge handout and the design of the election poster,
e) Certificate of enrollment and official transcript, and
f) A document and reason for any disciplinary action taken, if the candidate has a history.
3. Registration Announcement and Restrictions
a) The Central Election Committee must post the name, election headquarter name, and pledges of the candidates who have registered before 11:59 P.M. on November 9.
b) If the candidates are missing a part of the required documents, the Committee must notify the candidates by 11:59 p.m. on November 10. If the candidate submitted the omitted documents by 11:59 p.m. of the same day, the Committee allows the registration but with one warning.
4. Usage of symbols are not allowed.

On November 9, only one candidate registered for the election – Onestep, with Lee Yoon Seok as the President Candidate and Lee Rae Hwan as the Vice President Candidate. Since there was only one candidate, unlike the usual elections where voters vote for one of the many candidates, the choices on the ballot were either yes or no.

On November 13, the candidate debate was held at Terman Hall of the Creative Learning Building (E11) from 7 p.m. Since there was only one candidate, the debate consisted of a speech by the candidate, and questions for the candidate by the Committee and the panel.

On November 16, during the campaign, Onestep received an additional warning for using wrong terms in the recommendation document. Onestep had initially used wrong terms in the documents they submitted to the Committee for candidate registration and the Committee asked Onestep to use the correct terms during the campaign. However, some of the recommendation documents that Onestep used still had the wrong terms. For this, the Committee gave an additional warning to Onestep election headquarters.

From November 12 to November 16, the Committee received absent voting requests for students who could not vote on November 21, the day of the official voting, or had difficulties voting in regular voting booths. On November 20, absent voting was held.

On November 21, after the campaign period, the official voting began. The voting time was from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. There were eight voting booths: the North Cafeteria, in front of the convenience store at Student Center-2, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Heemang and Dasom Halls, the Creative Learning Building, the Computer Science Building, the Applied Engineering Building, and the bus stop at Moonji Campus. However, no students voted at the bus stop at Moonji Campus, so the booth was moved to Mir and Narae Halls. At the voting booth, the students first submit their student card to verify their identity. Then, they receive the ballot, and after voting, the students put it in the ballot box.

Around noon, the voter turnout was 12.96 percent. The turnout increased steadily and by 8 p.m., the final turnout was 44.32 percent. However, according to the election regulations, since the turnout was below 50%, the election period was extended by one day. If the turnout failed to reach 50% on the extended voting day, a re-election would have had to take place. Thus, on November 22, the voting period was extended from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The voting booths were installed in front of the convenience store at Student Center-2 and at the North Cafeteria and the Creative Learning Building. After the voting period, the final turnout reached 52.62%, and after verification, Onestep was elected as the 27th President of the Undergraduate Student Council.

Onestep’s Policies

Though the sole candidate of the 27th Student Council Elections, Onestep still had the mission of obtaining at least 50 percent of student votes. Though there were no fiery debates and conflicting policies that often accompany the elections, they had several radical policies that aroused diverse reactions from the student population. Onestep expressed their views on three main categories: student rights, school policies and culture, and welfare and communication.

Student Rights
Onestep believes that a reformation in the selection process for the KAIST president should be made to reflect the student voice. To do so, they plan to create a Presidential Candidate Nomination Committee, comprised of academic, scientific, and industrial experts, which will recommend a candidate to the Presidential Election Committee. This committee will then narrow the choices down to three candidates, from which the Board of Trustees will elect. A student representative will participate as a member of the Presidential Election Committee. Furthermore, Onestep hopes to make the Board of Trustees more transparent by requesting meeting minutes to be made public and by electing a recent graduate to the board.

School Policies and Culture
First, Onestep promises a new and improved school Spring Festival by cooperating with the Yuseong Municipal Hall to expand it as a city festival, similar to how the KAIST Arts and Music Festival was held this year. During the day, it will be a science festival, reflecting the identity of KAIST as a science and technology university, but during the night, it will be a festival celebrating the youth and culture of university students. Onestep also plans on decorating the streets with more exhibitions of paintings and photographs and maximizing the usage of the entire campus.

Second, Onestep plans to reward students for big and small achievements so that it can serve as a small motivation and a fun factor in the everyday lives of the students. For example, a “Significant Raise” award will be given to the student who improves their GPA the most from the previous semester and “Jack of All Trades” award to the student who borrowed the most books from the library during the semester. Onestep explained that they would request the Leadership Center to grant leadership mileage along with the awards, which would be a greater incentive for students.

Third, Onestep wishes to revive excess semester grants for double major and minor students. A student who surpasses eight semesters as undergraduates has to pay for all of their tuition fees even if their average is above 3.0 and face a disadvantage in the selection process for scholarships. Students of classes 2010 and above are allowed nine semesters if they have a minor and ten semesters if they are double majors, but starting with the class of 2011, this rule was abolished. Onestep plans to bring back the rule so that more students will be able to minor and double major in fields of interest.

Lastly, Onestep promotes the abolishment of mandatory recitation classes by removing all attendance checks, moving quizzes to class hours, and making recitation optional to only those who want it.

Welfare and Communication
To improve student welfare and communication, Onestep promises to create a “Cafeteria Improvement” task force team to participate in the Cafeteria Monitoring Committee as well as the Cafeteria Management Committee, improve Internet access, extend lighting hours for futsal fields till 2 a.m., construct an outdoor basketball court, install a smoking area, and create a mobile application for important notices for the students such as information on dormitory applications, cultural events, and school notices.

Onestep also plans to conduct a “Date with 1000 Students,” a plan to meet at least 1000 students during the course of the year and listen to their voices by holding events such as lunch meetings and at least three barbeque parties per semester, open to anyone who wishes to participate. “The KAIST I Create” is another promised plan, which is the development of an offline and online suggestion box for new policies that is open to anyone who wishes to do so. If supported by at least 2.5 percent of the student population, the idea will be taken to the administration for implementation.

Interview with Onestep

How did you come to decide to run as a candidate?
Both of us have previously worked under All in One as executives. As we were working there, watching how the school was run at a close distance, it was natural for us to think about fighting for the students at the frontlines and dedicate ourselves to the student body.

Given the fact that you two have worked at the current student council, All in One, you probably know very well about its achievements and limitations. How would you like to evaluate All in One’s activities?
Among the various achievements of All in One, I think they did very well in encouraging communication between the Student Council and student body through social network service. Through Facebook and Twitter, they successfully delivered news from inside the Student Council and the school, thereby increasing student participation to some extent. However, they did a poor job at gathering students’ voices through each departmental student council. For instance, last October, there were talks of occupying President Suh’s office reflecting the voices of the students that watched the current situation and yearned for democracy in campus. However, their effort to unify student opinion through departmental student representatives ended in failure. It was a predictable consequence, since the methods via which departmental representatives gathered student opinion were disorganized and varied greatly from one another.

Which of your pledges do you personally think is the most important?
[Rayhwan] I think “Dating 1000 Students” is our key pledge. During the election period, some worried that the events we are planning will become a sort of free-lunch time. However, our purpose of organizing the meeting is not to just have lunch with 1000 students, but to make time for direct communication with the students. By doing so, we will take a step forward to solve one of the school’s most chronic problems, the lack of student participation.
[Younseok] In fact, I have the same thought with Rayhwan. The second most important pledge for me is to reflect the voice of the student body in the KAIST presidential election. To accomplish this, we will take actions such as hunger strikes and occupation of the presidential office. It is impossible for the students to acquire what they need legitimately with the current established system. If the school responds by simply rejecting our demand, we are left with no choice.

How will you gather the opinions of 4000 undergraduate students during the presidency?
During the election campaign, there were active discussions amongst the students about our pledges. In particular, discussions on reducing the number of basic mandatory courses and abolishing mandatory recitation classes were heated. Of course, we will reflect those opinions in our policies as much as we can. A council meeting is scheduled already to discuss reformation of policies based on the criticisms we received during the election period. Also, our strategy to communicate with students will be focused on departmental student councils. We are planning to systematize them to be in closer contact with students.

I think if we insist on something that most of the students can agree with, it wouldn’t be too hard to gather their opinions into one. For example, we perceive that students who don’t want to exercise their rights to participate in the school’s presidential election are less than five percent. Then, how to reach that goal becomes the question. Though not easy, we must reason with the students to build a consensus.

Do you have any other comments about your upcoming presidency?
[Younseok] One of my seniors told me, “A true leader does not pursue one’s ideal. He realizes the people’s ideal.” Bearing this in mind, I will do my best to listen to what the students really want during my whole presidency.
[Rayhwan] I think whether or not students have the same thought with us is not a significant issue. The most critical thing is whether or not they love and trust their representatives. I promise to the students that we will be a friendly and trustworthy student council.